Suy
Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Ba Tuần Thánh
Đoạn Tin Mừng hôm nay đã cho chúng ta
thấy hai
nhân cách nổi bật và mỗi nhân cách có những đặc tính trái ngược nhau.
- Hành động của Giuđa có vẻ lạnh lùng và có tính toán. Còn Phêrô, tuy không cố tình chối Chúa những vì bản tính yếu đuối nhút nhát, có thể là trong sự yếu hèn và sợ sệt. Chúa Giêsu hiểu rất rõ ông Phêrô và biết lòng trung thành một mực của ông cũng như những thiếu xót và yếu đuối của ông. Ông Phêrô có một thói quen trực tính là hay nói tất cả những gì ông ta suy nghĩ từ sự mộc mặc và chất phát trong tâm hồn của ông, ông không hề suy nghĩ hay tính toàn sự hơn thua..
- Sự Phản bội của Giuđa, tuy nhiên, được nhìn thấy một cách tồi bại nhất khi Chúa Giêsu biểu lộ tình cảm đặc biệt với ông ta ngay trong bữa tiệc ly.
REFLECTION Gospel
Reading: John 13:21-38
The Gospel passage highlights two personalities, each with contrasting traits. - Judas deliberately betrayed his Master while Peter, in a moment of weakness, denied him with an oath and a curse. - Judas' act was cold and calculated. Peter, however, never meant to do what he did. He acted impulsively, out of weakness and cowardice.
- The treachery of Judas, however, is seen at its worst when Jesus makes his appeal by showing special affection to him at his last supper. John says that Satan entered into Judas when he rejected Jesus and left to pursue his evil course. Satan can twist love and turn it into hate. He can turn holiness into pride, discipline into cruelty, and affection into complacency.
We must be on our guard lest Satan turn us from the love of God and the path which God has chosen for us. The Holy Spirit will give us grace and strength in our time of testing. If we submit to Jesus we will walk in the light of his truth and love. If we turn our backs on him we will stumble and fall in the ways of sin and darkness.
Are we ready to follow Jesus in his way of the cross?
Tuesday of Holy week 2023:
“Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him at once.” John 13:31–32
Jesus speaks this line about Himself being glorified immediately after Judas leaves the supper to go forth to betray Him. Jesus had just finished washing the feet of His disciples, and soon He would finish the Last Supper, go to the Garden of Gethsemane, be arrested, beaten and crucified. And this was to all take place through the betrayal of one of the Twelve. Yet rather than speak of these pending events in a fearful or anxious way, Jesus points to the glory He will receive through them.
Everything in life has the potential to become an instrument of the glory of God. Even our sin can end in God’s glory when we repent and receive God’s forgiveness. It will not be our sin that glorifies God but His mercy poured forth from the Cross upon us that gives Him glory.
The same is true with the events of Holy Week. When looked at from a purely human perspective, what Jesus endured was tragic and horrific. One of His closest companions betrayed Him. The religious leaders of the time betrayed Him. The civil authorities betrayed Him. And all of the disciples except John fled in fear as Jesus was betrayed. But Jesus did not look at any of this through human eyes alone. He saw it all from the eternal perspective and clearly taught that all of these seemingly tragic events would end in His glory.
When we commit ourselves to the following of Christ, we can be assured that we will also share in His Cross. We will experience the sins of others, encounter mistreatment, and have to endure various sufferings. The question for us all as we have these encounters in life is whether we will endure them in anger and despair or with the hopeful confidence of our Lord. Again, everything in life has the potential to become an instrument of the glory of God. Nothing in life has the power to steal away that glory when we keep our eyes upon the will of God and His power to use all for His glory.
Reflect, today, upon your call in life to see everything from the divine perspective. If you are upset, angry, despairing or confused at times, know that God wants to bring clarity and grace to every situation. He wants to show you how you can share in His divine mission of transforming every evil into God’s glory. Seek out the ways that your life must give glory to God in everything, especially those things that seem incapable of being used for good. The more an experience in life seems incapable of being used for God’s glory, the more that experience is capable of giving true glory to God.
My glorious Lord, You brought forth good from all things. Even the grave evil of Your betrayal was transformed into a manifestation of Your glory. I offer to You, dear Lord, all that I endure in life and pray that You will be glorified in all things, and that my life will continually become a manifestation of the glory due Your holy name. Jesus, I trust in You.
Tuesday of Holy week 2023:
Opening Prayer: Come Holy Spirit, open my heart to hear what you want me to hear. Help me to draw close to Christ always.
2. The Law of the Gift: As soon as Judas left, Jesus announced, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him” (John 13:31). Christ was glorified when his Passion had begun, the hour when he offered his blood to save us from our sins. God the Father was also glorified in Christ’s Passion because the Son obediently did his will. God the Father sent Jesus to die for our sins; this was Christ’s mission. Jesus spoke earlier of glorifying God the Father through his death: “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit” (John 12:24). This is the Law of the Gift. Christ gave his life for us in the ultimate act of self-giving love. We, too, live by the Law of the Gift, for we are most fulfilled when we lovingly give ourselves to others. St. Paul VI wrote: “man...cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself” (Gaudium et Spes, #24).
3. Draw Close to Christ: Peter’s denial later in the Passion narrative was driven by fear (Matthew 26:69-75). He desired to follow Jesus even unto death: “I will lay down my life for you” (John 13:37), but Peter’s fear caused him to distance himself from Jesus. Peter felt threatened, so he disguised his Christian identity by denying Christ; he even cursed and swore to prove it. Notice how St. John drew so close to Christ that “he leaned back against Jesus’s chest” (John 13:25) at the Last Supper. He was also the only apostle that stayed with Jesus through his entire Passion. Who do we choose to imitate this Holy Week? Peter, who was ashamed of being “too Christian,” or John, who always remained close to his Savior?
Conversing with Christ: Jesus, may I never betray or deny you, but instead always draw ever closer to you. I know that, with you near me, guiding me day by day, I can learn to give myself to others through acts of selfless love. Help me die to myself so that it is no longer I who lives, but you who lives in me (cf. Galatians 2:20).
Tuesday, 16th April
2019 - Is. 49:1-6; Ps.
71(70):1-2,3-4,5-6,15,17; Jn. 13:21-33,36-38 (Ps Wk II)
He is troubled! This is His last meal before his death, but his friends aren’t aware of the impending moments when this peaceful scene of the last supper would disappear and the worst tragedy of the betrayal, crucifixion and death, would scatter all of them from each other! But even at this moment Jesus hints at what is going to happen to two of his friends: one who would betray him and the other who would deny him, entirely! This is a poignant moment for Jesus; as He is the only one aware of the circumstances. The disciples are not aware of their own weakness. For they are high enjoying the Passover festivities at the supper. We who are in Holy Week are but going through the rituals of prayer and fasting… how aware are we of another’s loneliness and agony? We forget the Incarnation is taking place right now, when Christ is betrayed and crucified daily. Let us be in touch with them during this time.
Lord, touch my heart and make me human as You were!
Suy Niêm
Chúa Giêsu đang bối rồi đau buồn trong cảnh chia ly sắp tới. Tôi đã làm gì để Chúa phải chịu những khổ đau bối rố? Tôi nhận được miếng bánh nhỏ từ nơi Chúa và tôi chạy trốn vào giữa bóng đêm tối. Và đây, là bóng đêm. Bóng đêm này không phải là bóng đêm của sự hiệp nhất. Đó là bóng đêm tối của tội lỗi, của sự tách biệt có cố tình từ sự sống của Chúa Kitô. Hình ảnh của buổi chiều truyền tải bí mật và sự hiện hữu của sự yêu dấu an bài vượt quá sự hiểu biết. Đêm khác mô tả các điều kiện của tội lỗi, trốn khỏi sự hiện diện, đang chạy trốn khỏi sự hiện diện, với những chế độ nô lệ của sự không vâng lời, nó là đêm rằng đó hoàn toàn là tiêu cực mà đến từ tách lìa khỏi Chúa. Lạy Chúa, lòng thương xót của bạn cho tôi luôn tuân thủ trong đêm may mắn của công đoàn của Thiên Chúa mà các vấn đề ra thành ánh sáng vĩnh viễn.
Reflection:
Jesus is troubled in spirit. How have I caused the Lord trouble? I receive my morsel and then flee into the shadows. And behold, it is night. It is not the night of union. It is the night of sin, of deliberate separation from the life of Christ. The figure of night conveys the secret and presence of resting in the Beloved beyond knowing. The other night describes the condition of sin, of hiding from the presence, of fleeing from the presence, of embracing the slavery of disobedience; it is the night that that is pure negativity that comes from separation from God. Lord, in your mercy let me always abide in the blessed night of divine union those issues forth into perpetual light.
Meditation:
Jesus' disciples were put to the test as Jesus prepared to make the final and ultimate sacrifice of his own life for their sake and for all the world. What was different between Peter and Judas? Judas deliberately betrayed his Master while Peter, in a moment of weakness, denied him with an oath and a curse. Judas' act was cold and calculated. Peter, however, never meant to do what he did. He acted impulsively, out of weakness and cowardice. Jesus knew both the strength of Peter's loyalty and the weakness of his resolution. He had a habit of speaking with his heart without thinking through the implications of what he was saying. The treachery of Judas, however, is seen at its worst when Jesus makes his appeal by showing special affection to him at his last supper. John says that Satan entered into Judas when he rejected Jesus and left to pursue his evil course. Satan can twist love and turn it into hate. He can turn holiness into pride, discipline into cruelty, and affection into complacency. We must be on our guard lest Satan turn us from the love of God and the path which God has chosen for us. The Holy Spirit will give us grace and strength in our time of testing. If we submit to Jesus we will walk in the light of his truth and love. If we turn our backs on him we will stumble and fall in the ways of sin and darkness. Are you ready to follow Jesus in his way of the cross?
"Give me, O Lord, a steadfast heart which no unworthy thought can drag downwards; an unconquered heart which no tribulation can wear out; an upright heart which no unworthy purpose may tempt aside. Bestow upon me also, O Lord my God, understanding to know you, diligence to seek you, wisdom to find you, and a faithfulness that may finally embrace you; through Jesus Christ, our Lord." (Prayer of Thomas Aquinas)
- Hành động của Giuđa có vẻ lạnh lùng và có tính toán. Còn Phêrô, tuy không cố tình chối Chúa những vì bản tính yếu đuối nhút nhát, có thể là trong sự yếu hèn và sợ sệt. Chúa Giêsu hiểu rất rõ ông Phêrô và biết lòng trung thành một mực của ông cũng như những thiếu xót và yếu đuối của ông. Ông Phêrô có một thói quen trực tính là hay nói tất cả những gì ông ta suy nghĩ từ sự mộc mặc và chất phát trong tâm hồn của ông, ông không hề suy nghĩ hay tính toàn sự hơn thua..
- Sự Phản bội của Giuđa, tuy nhiên, được nhìn thấy một cách tồi bại nhất khi Chúa Giêsu biểu lộ tình cảm đặc biệt với ông ta ngay trong bữa tiệc ly.
The Gospel passage highlights two personalities, each with contrasting traits. - Judas deliberately betrayed his Master while Peter, in a moment of weakness, denied him with an oath and a curse. - Judas' act was cold and calculated. Peter, however, never meant to do what he did. He acted impulsively, out of weakness and cowardice.
- The treachery of Judas, however, is seen at its worst when Jesus makes his appeal by showing special affection to him at his last supper. John says that Satan entered into Judas when he rejected Jesus and left to pursue his evil course. Satan can twist love and turn it into hate. He can turn holiness into pride, discipline into cruelty, and affection into complacency.
We must be on our guard lest Satan turn us from the love of God and the path which God has chosen for us. The Holy Spirit will give us grace and strength in our time of testing. If we submit to Jesus we will walk in the light of his truth and love. If we turn our backs on him we will stumble and fall in the ways of sin and darkness.
Are we ready to follow Jesus in his way of the cross?
“Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him at once.” John 13:31–32
Jesus speaks this line about Himself being glorified immediately after Judas leaves the supper to go forth to betray Him. Jesus had just finished washing the feet of His disciples, and soon He would finish the Last Supper, go to the Garden of Gethsemane, be arrested, beaten and crucified. And this was to all take place through the betrayal of one of the Twelve. Yet rather than speak of these pending events in a fearful or anxious way, Jesus points to the glory He will receive through them.
Everything in life has the potential to become an instrument of the glory of God. Even our sin can end in God’s glory when we repent and receive God’s forgiveness. It will not be our sin that glorifies God but His mercy poured forth from the Cross upon us that gives Him glory.
The same is true with the events of Holy Week. When looked at from a purely human perspective, what Jesus endured was tragic and horrific. One of His closest companions betrayed Him. The religious leaders of the time betrayed Him. The civil authorities betrayed Him. And all of the disciples except John fled in fear as Jesus was betrayed. But Jesus did not look at any of this through human eyes alone. He saw it all from the eternal perspective and clearly taught that all of these seemingly tragic events would end in His glory.
When we commit ourselves to the following of Christ, we can be assured that we will also share in His Cross. We will experience the sins of others, encounter mistreatment, and have to endure various sufferings. The question for us all as we have these encounters in life is whether we will endure them in anger and despair or with the hopeful confidence of our Lord. Again, everything in life has the potential to become an instrument of the glory of God. Nothing in life has the power to steal away that glory when we keep our eyes upon the will of God and His power to use all for His glory.
Reflect, today, upon your call in life to see everything from the divine perspective. If you are upset, angry, despairing or confused at times, know that God wants to bring clarity and grace to every situation. He wants to show you how you can share in His divine mission of transforming every evil into God’s glory. Seek out the ways that your life must give glory to God in everything, especially those things that seem incapable of being used for good. The more an experience in life seems incapable of being used for God’s glory, the more that experience is capable of giving true glory to God.
My glorious Lord, You brought forth good from all things. Even the grave evil of Your betrayal was transformed into a manifestation of Your glory. I offer to You, dear Lord, all that I endure in life and pray that You will be glorified in all things, and that my life will continually become a manifestation of the glory due Your holy name. Jesus, I trust in You.
Opening Prayer: Come Holy Spirit, open my heart to hear what you want me to hear. Help me to draw close to Christ always.
2. The Law of the Gift: As soon as Judas left, Jesus announced, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him” (John 13:31). Christ was glorified when his Passion had begun, the hour when he offered his blood to save us from our sins. God the Father was also glorified in Christ’s Passion because the Son obediently did his will. God the Father sent Jesus to die for our sins; this was Christ’s mission. Jesus spoke earlier of glorifying God the Father through his death: “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit” (John 12:24). This is the Law of the Gift. Christ gave his life for us in the ultimate act of self-giving love. We, too, live by the Law of the Gift, for we are most fulfilled when we lovingly give ourselves to others. St. Paul VI wrote: “man...cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself” (Gaudium et Spes, #24).
3. Draw Close to Christ: Peter’s denial later in the Passion narrative was driven by fear (Matthew 26:69-75). He desired to follow Jesus even unto death: “I will lay down my life for you” (John 13:37), but Peter’s fear caused him to distance himself from Jesus. Peter felt threatened, so he disguised his Christian identity by denying Christ; he even cursed and swore to prove it. Notice how St. John drew so close to Christ that “he leaned back against Jesus’s chest” (John 13:25) at the Last Supper. He was also the only apostle that stayed with Jesus through his entire Passion. Who do we choose to imitate this Holy Week? Peter, who was ashamed of being “too Christian,” or John, who always remained close to his Savior?
Conversing with Christ: Jesus, may I never betray or deny you, but instead always draw ever closer to you. I know that, with you near me, guiding me day by day, I can learn to give myself to others through acts of selfless love. Help me die to myself so that it is no longer I who lives, but you who lives in me (cf. Galatians 2:20).
He is troubled! This is His last meal before his death, but his friends aren’t aware of the impending moments when this peaceful scene of the last supper would disappear and the worst tragedy of the betrayal, crucifixion and death, would scatter all of them from each other! But even at this moment Jesus hints at what is going to happen to two of his friends: one who would betray him and the other who would deny him, entirely! This is a poignant moment for Jesus; as He is the only one aware of the circumstances. The disciples are not aware of their own weakness. For they are high enjoying the Passover festivities at the supper. We who are in Holy Week are but going through the rituals of prayer and fasting… how aware are we of another’s loneliness and agony? We forget the Incarnation is taking place right now, when Christ is betrayed and crucified daily. Let us be in touch with them during this time.
Lord, touch my heart and make me human as You were!
Chúa Giêsu đang bối rồi đau buồn trong cảnh chia ly sắp tới. Tôi đã làm gì để Chúa phải chịu những khổ đau bối rố? Tôi nhận được miếng bánh nhỏ từ nơi Chúa và tôi chạy trốn vào giữa bóng đêm tối. Và đây, là bóng đêm. Bóng đêm này không phải là bóng đêm của sự hiệp nhất. Đó là bóng đêm tối của tội lỗi, của sự tách biệt có cố tình từ sự sống của Chúa Kitô. Hình ảnh của buổi chiều truyền tải bí mật và sự hiện hữu của sự yêu dấu an bài vượt quá sự hiểu biết. Đêm khác mô tả các điều kiện của tội lỗi, trốn khỏi sự hiện diện, đang chạy trốn khỏi sự hiện diện, với những chế độ nô lệ của sự không vâng lời, nó là đêm rằng đó hoàn toàn là tiêu cực mà đến từ tách lìa khỏi Chúa. Lạy Chúa, lòng thương xót của bạn cho tôi luôn tuân thủ trong đêm may mắn của công đoàn của Thiên Chúa mà các vấn đề ra thành ánh sáng vĩnh viễn.
Jesus is troubled in spirit. How have I caused the Lord trouble? I receive my morsel and then flee into the shadows. And behold, it is night. It is not the night of union. It is the night of sin, of deliberate separation from the life of Christ. The figure of night conveys the secret and presence of resting in the Beloved beyond knowing. The other night describes the condition of sin, of hiding from the presence, of fleeing from the presence, of embracing the slavery of disobedience; it is the night that that is pure negativity that comes from separation from God. Lord, in your mercy let me always abide in the blessed night of divine union those issues forth into perpetual light.
Jesus' disciples were put to the test as Jesus prepared to make the final and ultimate sacrifice of his own life for their sake and for all the world. What was different between Peter and Judas? Judas deliberately betrayed his Master while Peter, in a moment of weakness, denied him with an oath and a curse. Judas' act was cold and calculated. Peter, however, never meant to do what he did. He acted impulsively, out of weakness and cowardice. Jesus knew both the strength of Peter's loyalty and the weakness of his resolution. He had a habit of speaking with his heart without thinking through the implications of what he was saying. The treachery of Judas, however, is seen at its worst when Jesus makes his appeal by showing special affection to him at his last supper. John says that Satan entered into Judas when he rejected Jesus and left to pursue his evil course. Satan can twist love and turn it into hate. He can turn holiness into pride, discipline into cruelty, and affection into complacency. We must be on our guard lest Satan turn us from the love of God and the path which God has chosen for us. The Holy Spirit will give us grace and strength in our time of testing. If we submit to Jesus we will walk in the light of his truth and love. If we turn our backs on him we will stumble and fall in the ways of sin and darkness. Are you ready to follow Jesus in his way of the cross?
"Give me, O Lord, a steadfast heart which no unworthy thought can drag downwards; an unconquered heart which no tribulation can wear out; an upright heart which no unworthy purpose may tempt aside. Bestow upon me also, O Lord my God, understanding to know you, diligence to seek you, wisdom to find you, and a faithfulness that may finally embrace you; through Jesus Christ, our Lord." (Prayer of Thomas Aquinas)
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